Novelist Rachel Hore describes the benefit of a peaceful mini-writing break away from home
‘We are staying in a rented cottage in North Norfolk this week, where I am polishing my next novel prior to delivering it to my editor. I value the peace and solitude here to do this. Reading through the entire script, making little tweaks here and there, requires much concentration. It’s easy to miss parts where I’ve repeated myself or used the wrong name for a minor character if I’m being constantly interrupted by the business of normal life. It feels very odd to let go of a book – I am always nervous about letting someone else read it for the first time. Iris Murdoch once said that a book is a wreck of a perfect idea and I understand what she meant. I had a vision for it in my head when I started out, but once I began to write it out the characters took over and made the story their own. This isn’t some supernatural process, it’s simply the way that fiction works – perhaps it is a kind of magic! Certainly I can’t predict what I’ll dredge up from my subconscious during my writing! Our week away is nearly over and the novel is almost done. I wonder what my editor will make of it?’
Rachel Hore will be discussing her new novel The Hidden Years on Saturday 29 June at 10am.
